


You’re Beautiful

by 0JokingAround



Series: UnderTropes [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Beautiful, Body Image, Crushes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, I am not pretty trope, Insecure Slim, Insecurities, Long Shot, Love, M/M, Mild Language, Papyrus (Undertale)-centric, Requited Love, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Sad Slim, Scar, Serious Papyrus, TV Tropes, supportive Papyrus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 09:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16426400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0JokingAround/pseuds/0JokingAround
Summary: "You’re hurting me, you really are. I can’t stand to hear someone that I...someone that I care about so, so much say such horrible things about themselves that aren’t even true! The only ugly thing here are your lies!"





	You’re Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> My attempt at a trope challenge. This long shot of a story focuses on the “I am not pretty” trope.
> 
> Undertale Papyrus- Papyrus- Normal  
> Swapfell Papyrus- Slim- lowercase

Slim sighed to himself, looking at his own reflection in the mirror. "it’s no use..." he said sadly.

He had no "good side."

No matter what angle he positioned himself in, no matter what pose he did, his appearance didn’t get any better. His reflection showed him what he already knew.

Unattractive.

Hideous.

Disgusting.

He felt a shiver go down his spine, feeling even more insecure about himself now than when he first looked in the mirror this morning. Maybe...maybe if he pulled down his hoodie? Slim raised his shaky hands and grabbed the fluff of his hoodie on each side before he froze. His scar would more exposed if he pulled down his hoodie...

Why would he want to show off another reason why he was so unattractive?

He released his hands from the fluff of his hoodie and placed them over his face. He felt a stinging sensation in his eye sockets, and despite closing them tightly, he still felt the tears seeping past them. A choked sob escaped his mouth before he dropped to his knees on the shaggy carpet of the bathroom floor. His body shook uncontrollably as he sobbed loudly to himself.

Why couldn’t he be just a little bit attractive? Why couldn’t he even be decent looking? Why was he so...so...

Ugly.

Unappealing.

Revolting.

How could someone like Papyrus ever want to be with someone like him?

"Slim..."

The sobbing skeleton jumped violently and gasped loudly at the sudden sound of the one he was just thinking of. He pulled back his hands from his own face and looked up to see his friend standing by the bathroom door. "p-papyrus?" Slim said in disbelief. He mentally cursed at himself at how weak his voice sounded.

Not even his own voice was remotely pleasant sounding.

How pathetic.

"Slim!" Papyrus yelled in a worried voice, "Slim what’s wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked, kneeling in front of his friend and placing his hands gently on his shaking shoulders.

Slim shook his head and tried to wipe his tears away, but to no avail. It was bad enough for Papyrus to be seen with him, much less look at him whenever they hung out, but he just had to see him like this didn’t he? At the worst possible moment where he probably looked like a wreck of a monster.

"w-what?" Slim said, ignoring the question and sniffling loudly, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to ask if-" Papyrus paused for a moment and shook his head, "N-No, that’s not important right now. You’re upset. Why are you upset, Slim?"

Slim removed Papyrus’ hands away from his shoulders and covered his face with his hands again. He felt another wave of a sob coming up and he did not want Papyrus to see anymore of him becoming an even bigger mess than he already was.

"Slim." A pair of hands were trying to pry his own hands away from his face, but he refused to budge. Papyrus’ hands tugged at his harder, succefully capturing them in his own. "Slim..." Papyrus said in a very soft tone, and managed to keep a firm, but gentle grip on Slims’ hands while he held onto to them.

Slim whined, and closed his eyes tightly, refusing to look at Papyrus.

"Please, tell me what’s wrong. I...I don’t like seeing you like this."

Great, he was an ugly crier too.

"i-i-i’m sorry." Slim said just above a whisper, his voice cracking a bit at the end, "i-i’m so sorry, pa-papyrus but p-please...please leave. i-i don’t want you to see me like this. just leave me-""

"I’m not leaving you like this." Papyrus said, interrupting him without any hesitation while raising both of his hands to Slim’s wet face to wipe away his tears.

His gentle touch made Slim’s eyes open in surprise before they became watery again. Slim sniffled a little and placed his hands on top of Papyrus’, trying to pull them away from his face but found that he couldn’t. Papyrus was insistent on wiping away every single tear on his face, and only when he accomplished in doing so did he pull back his hands. He got up and extended a single hand for Slim to take. Slim hesitated a little, staring at the hand before looking up and seeing a gentle smile on Papyrus’ face, despite the worry that was clearly shown in his eyes.

Slim looked at the hand and took it. Papyrus lifted him up and as soon as Slim was standing on his own two feet, he wrapped his arms around him and tucked his head underneath his chin. Slim stood still, arms awkwardly by his side, eyes wide and mouth slightly agaped. If there were any more tears left in him he would have cried more, but instead he slowly closed his eyes and stiffly returned Papyrus’ hug. Only when Slim felt a hand rubbing circles soothingly on his back, and a soft hum coming from above did he really relax in the arms of whom he loved.

Slim sighed in both relief and exhaustion. Oh, how he would love nothing more than to just be in Papyrus’ arms for the rest of the day, but he knew that could never happen. He didn’t deserve such beauty. He didn’t deserve such kindness.

The humming and the soothing circles suddenly stopped all together. Papyrus pulled away a little, and so did Slim. His gentle smile was still there, a smile that always made Slim’s legs turn into jelly.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. You know that right? Anytime, anyplace. I’ll listen to you. I promise."

"i..." Slim gulped, not knowing how to say what he wanted to say. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted Papyrus to know what he thought about sometimes every now and then. He’d probably be mad, or maybe even furious that he would think of himself in such a way.

Or maybe...he’d agree?

He wouldn’t blame him if he did.

After a few moments of hesitation, Slim decided that Papyrus had the right to know. They were friends, best friends even. Why Papyrus was friends with the likes of him, he had no idea, but what kind of best friend would he be if he didn’t talk to him about these sorts of things? For all he knew, Papyrus could help him in overcoming his insecurities.

Or make things worse.

Taking in a shaky breath, Slim said, "i don’t...i don’t like what i see in the mirror wh-whenever i look at it." He let out a shuddering breath and looked down, burying his head in the crook of Papyrus’ neck just above his scarf. He could hear his own soul pounding loudly in his chest, waiting for Papyrus to say something.

Papyrus’ mouth fell open slightly as he looked down at Slim in shock. He looked at the mirror to see their reflection and stared at it for a few seconds, before looking back down at the hoodie wearing skeleton. "You don’t...like what you see in the mirror?" Slim simply shook his head on his neck as a response.

Papyrus blinked, before saying, "I do."

Slim snorted pitifully, and raised his head up to meet Papyrus’ eyes. "w-well, yeah. of course you do. you..." Slim looked down shyly, "you look great." Slim said with a small smile and feeling his cheekbones heat up a bit at the compliment he gave to Papyrus. A thumb and a forefinger took a gentle hold of his chin and made him look up. How many times was Papyrus going to smile at him today? If he didn’t stop, Slim was worried his legs might actually turn into jelly.

"I wasn’t talking about me."Papyrus said softly.

It took a few moments for Slim to register the implication of what Papyrus just said to him before the heat of his cheekbones grew intensely. Did he hear that right? The hand still gently gripping his chin made him turn his head to the mirror, where his and Papyrus’ reflections were as clear as day.

The Papyrus in the reflection smiled fondly at him before tilting his head down a little where Slim’s ear would be if he had any, and opened his mouth to speak.

"Slim...do you wanna know what I see in the mirror right now?" Papyrus asked in a soft, serene tone, which made Slim tremble as he could practically feel the warmth of Papyrus’ breath on the side of his skull. Slim gulped, not trusting his own voice to speak properly, and shook his head as a reply.

"I see a skeleton with a cute golden tooth on the side of his mouth. I see a scar that tells a courageous story of a strong, and resilient skeleton. I see a pair of pretty, little, yellow-ochre eyelights that remind me of a beautiful sunset and a sunrise. I see a swell looking outfit that looks just so warm and cozy, and it complements your slim figure nicely...pun not intended." Papyrus said, chuckling a little at his unintentional pun. Slim would’ve laughed too if he wasn’t paralyzed by the overwhelming wave of compliments Papyrus just threw at him. His soul felt ready to burst by how much it swelled up and pulsed furiously in his ribcage.

It was too much. Too many compliments. Papyrus couldn’t possibly mean any of that...could he? Was he mocking him? Was he just saying all those nice things to him out of pity?

Slim released himself from their hug and turned his back on him. With his body shaking once more, he looked down and closed his eyes. "y-you can’t...do you really mean all those things, papyrus?" He said, barely above a whisper. He heard a few footsteps approach him before a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders. He was pulled backed slightly until the back of his head touched Papyrus chest.

Papyrus laid his head on top of Slim’s fluffy hoodie while turning their bodies to face the mirror again. "Why would I lie to such a wonderful skeleton?"

Slim opened his mouth a bit to say something, but only a choked whine made it past his mouth as he stared at his reflection. Somehow, a single tear managed to make its way down his cheekbones, but Papyrus quickly noticed it and wiped it away.

"No more crying" Papyrus whispered to him gently, "unless they’re tears of joy."

Slim abruptly chuckled at hearing that, but as soon as he snorted a little, he quickly covered his mouth with both hands. He hated his own laugh, it sounded so...obnoxious and unappealing. He looked at Papyrus’ reflection to see the judgment in his eyes, but all he saw was a surprised expression on his face before it turned into an amused one.

"Adorable," said Papyrus in a matter of fact tone.

Could his own face get any brighter? How did he not look ridiculous right now? "m-my face," Slim said softly as he removed his hands from his face and awkwardly hugged himself, "my face burns, p-papyrus."

"Good," Papyrus says and giggles, "That means I’m making you feel happy. Even the color of your blush makes you look pretty."

"m-my tooth sticks out..."

"Did I not say it was cute before? Then, i’ll say it again. It’s cute, and I don’t see too many people or monsters with a tooth like that out so that makes it a rare beauty too."

"m-my smile is...is c-crooked and awkward."

"Your crooked teeth adds character to your already interesting self and I’d say your smile is more shy than awkward, but it’s still lovely all the same. And speaking of your smile, I’d...I’d love to see you wearing one right now." He said fondly with a slight orange blush coating his cheekbones.

Papyrus’ little request went unanswered as his friend shook his head underneath him in denial. "...you’ve never seen the full extent of my scar." Slim whispered in slight fear.

There was a brief moment of silence before Papyrus said, "Then that’s just an even longer story for you to tell me someday. Slim, your scar shows how much of a survivor you are. A survivor from a dark, cruel place that I can’t even imagine lasting five minutes there. Even though you haven’t told me the full story of it, what you’ve already told me makes me think just how incredible you are. I can’t wait to hear the rest of your story and admire you even more for just how strong and brave you really are."

Suddenly, Slim removed himself from Papyrus’ arms and turned around to face him. Papyrus stared at him in surprise before Slim gripped the fluff of his hoodie and pulled it down. Papyrus’ eyes widened in even more surprise, his mouth slightly opened as he took in the sight of Slim’s face. His friend always kept his hoodie up, and with the fluff always in the way, Papyrus had never seen most of his forehead and a bit of the sides of his head. He briefly wondered if the fluff ever tickled his cheekbones with how soft the fluff was.

Slim’s hands shook as he held the hoodie down, wanting so badly to put it back up again. He trembled as Papyrus’ gaze focused intensely on his face for what felt like minutes, maybe even hours. Then, Papyrus slowly took a step forward, a few inches away from hugging Slim again. With both of his hands, Papyrus raised them and gently held Slim’s cheekbones. He leaned down and forward, placing his mouth against the middle of Slim’s scar that ran from the top of his cheek bone, through the eye-socket, and all the way up towards his forehead.

He stood still for a moment, thinking to himself, before he pressed his mouth a bit on the scar to give it a quick, simple kiss. He leaned back a bit to see Slim’s face completely devoured by his yellow-ochre blush. Papyrus chuckled a bit, feeling his own cheekbones heat up a little by his own action. Those pretty little eye lights he mentioned before stared at him in shock and wonder, before Slim quickly wrapped his arms around him and buried his head in the crook of his neck again, feeling the warmth of his scarf soft to the touch.

Papyrus laughed a little, wrapping an arm around his back and rubbing smooth circles on it once more, while the other places a gently hand on the back of Slim’s head. He leaned his chin on top of his head and hummed to calm his friends nerves again.

"m-my forehead is t-too big. my head is shaped weird. my sc-scar is too long and crooked. my body is too skinny, so unhealthily skinny, my name is slim for fuck’s sake-" Slim’s voice died down when his head was gently pulled back and his eyes met Papyrus’. His eyelights were burning with such determination and fondness, Slim was afraid he would drown in them the longer he looked into them.

Papyrus leaned in close to him, their nasal bridges almost touching if he moved just an inch closer, and said in a low, soft whisper, "Now you’re just trying to make yourself feel bad, well I don’t want to hear any of that anymore. You’re lying to yourself, Slim. Every horrible thing that you have said and think about yourself is a lie. You’re...," Papyrus gulped nervously as he could feel his own cheekbones burn and spread across his face before he nuzzled his nasal bridge with his. "You’re beautiful, Slim. Every little thing about you is absolutely delightful."

Slim’s face was flushed in yellow ochre. He trembled greatly as he whispered in a broken tone, "you...you’re lying. you have to b-b-be. i’m not b-beautif-ful at all, i’m ug-," Slim yelped as he was quickly pushed against the bathroom sink, his hands caught and pinned down with Papyrus’ own on the cold, flat surface of the sink’s countertop. He looked up at him in shock before noticing how close their bodies were. If Papyrus were to take just a little step closer to him, their bodies would be flushed against each other...

That thought alone made Slim’s head spin. Papyrus’ forehead met his all of a sudden, interrupting his little fantasy, and when his eyes met with his own, he froze. Papyrus’ was looking at him with an expression ranging from so many emotions, but what stood out to Slim the most was the anger and dissapointment in them. He made Papyrus upset with him. He felt awful...he was an awful skeleton for making someone as great as Papyrus feel-

"Why would I lie to you?" Papyrus asked, his tone low and frustrated." Slim, I’m your best friend. Everything that I’ve said about you is true...it’s true to me and it should be true to you too. I don’t understand why you think about yourself so negatively, but it’s got to stop. How can...," Papyrus sighed, sounding defeated and confused. "How can you think such awful things?"

"p-papyrus," Slim whispered in a shudder breath, "i-i’m sorry. i don’t...it just pops into my h-head sometimes...th-the mirror-"

*SMASH!

Slim flinched, closing his eyes tightly for a second before he opened them and stared at Papyrus in shock. Bright orange magic emanated from his friend’s left eye socket, paralyzing him in awe. Slim could practically feel the anger from Papyrus radiate off his magic. He couldn’t look away from it, not that he needed to. He didn’t need to turn around to know what Papyrus just did.

"p-papyrus..." Slim said in disbelief. Was the skeleton in front of him really Papyrus? This...this wasn’t like him. Was this another side of him he’s never seen before? If so, he didn’t really know what to make of it exactly.

"You’re hurting me, you really are. I can’t stand to hear someone that I...someone that I care about so, so much say such horrible things about themselves that aren’t even true! The only ugly thing here are your lies!" Papyrus yelled in a volume Slim has never heard him reach before. He never raised his voice at anyone like that, no matter how angry he was. This side...this side scared Slim, but what scared him the most were the tears running down Papyrus’ cheekbones.

The orange magic from his eye sockets flickered violently, a scowl on his face that faltered when he saw the look on Slim’s face. Slim looked so scared and concerned, which was the last thing Papyrus wanted to make him feel. His scowl dropped to a trembling frown as the orange magic sizzled slightly before dissapearing along with a crackling sound. A choked sob escaped his mouth as the hand that was still on Slim’s own tightened and shook, while the other slowly removed itself from the shattered mirror. He brought his hand closer to himself to inspect the damage that he’s done.

Slim gasped, seeing how bloody and scratched Papyrus’ hand was. A few shards were embedded slightly in the knuckles of his hand, making Slim wince but it completely unfazed Papyrus.

"y-y-you’re hurt." Slim said worriedly, still in disbelief that Papyrus, the sweetest skeleton he’s ever known, lost his temper enough to intentionally break something.

Papyrus looked at his trembling, bloody hand, watching the blood drip from his knuckles and phalanges to the floor. "This..."he said, moving his eyelights to look at Slim dead in the eyes. "This is nothing compared to what I feel right now. Slim, whatever awful thoughts you have that makes you question your own beauty, I want you to shut them out. If all you see in your reflection is ugliness, then clearly something must have been wrong with your mirror and any reflective surface you’ve been using to look at yourself. And if...if someone is making fun of your appearances, then...then they’re going to get a very stern talking to from me!" Papyrus said with a growl at the end.

The growl caught Slim off guard. It was so uncharacteristic of the usually cheerful skeleton. It made Slim shiver in...well...he had mixed feelings about it, maybe if the circumstance were different...

Slim shook his head trying to get rid of the sudden, and quite inappropriate, images in his head. His soul was beating rapidly and his cheekbones burned brightly. This was really not the time for such...lewd thoughts.

"papyrus, h-how can you say all those things so...so easily? if you’re not lying then...you have to be exaggerating, r-right?"

"Wrong." Papyrus said with a small glare, but softened his gaze when Slim looked down nervously. Placing his bloody hand down on the sink counter while ignoring the mess it made on it, he made sure not put too much weight on it so that the shards didn’t dig any deeper in his bones. He lifted his other hand that was holding Slim’s for awhile and gently took a hold of his chin. He lifted Slim’s chin up, and when Papyrus saw his dimming eyelights, he wanted nothing more than to make those eyelights shine bright and glow with joy.

"I’m telling you the truth. I’m not exaggerating at all, I’m telling you what I truly believe in with all my soul, Slim. And...And it’s not easy saying all this actually. I’ve always thought you were beautiful, Slim, I-I just...never said it out loud before. If I knew how insecure you were about your own body, I would’ve...I would’ve told you how beautiful you are sooner and...tell you that every single day.."

A pretty yellow-ochre blush spread across Slim’s whole face. "r-really, papyrus? y-you’d would’ve done that...for me?" Slim said with a small smile.

Papyrus returned the smile with his own. "Of course I would. In fact, starting today I shall call you beautiful and shower you with all sorts of compliments until your insecurities are no more!" he said with a hopeful "Nyeh" and grinned cheerfully.

Slim couldn’t help but to throw himself on to Papyrus’, hugging him tightly and crying into his neck. Papyrus, who almost fell on the floor by Slim’s sudden embrace but quickly managed to steady himself, grew worried when he heard him cry again. He hugged him back with one arm, the other one hanging by his side to avoid ruining Slim’s hoodie with his bloody hand. "Slim? D-Did I say something wro-" His words got caught in his throat when Slim pulled his head back from his neck, and looked up at him with one of the most genuine, happiest smile he’s ever seen the smaller skeleton wear on his face.

"nothing." Slim said with a watery chuckle. "you said nothing wrong, papyrus. i-i’m crying tears of joy, just like you said."

Papyrus blushed and chuckled too. "I did say that didn’t I?"

"you also said you’d love to see me smile before. well...i-i’m smiling now," Slim says a little awkwardly, "i-is it as lovely as you said it was?"

"Still and always will be lovely to me." Papyrus said, his blush getting brighter and so did Slim’s face. His pretty blush, his stunning eye lights that shined from his compliment, his lovely smile, and every little detail on Slim’s face that showed just how happy he really was mesmerized Papyrus. He looked at him for a few seconds longer, admiring the beauty that was in front of him and without thinking, leaned in towards him slowly.

Slim quickly noticed this and felt his entire face burn and his soul pound wildly once again, but nevertheless, he leaned in slowly towards Papyrus. They both fluttered their eyes shut as their mouths were just a few inches away from each other, until Papyrus suddenly hissed in pain, unwrapping his arm around Slim. Slim opened his eyes at the sudden sound and loss of warmth from the other, and saw Papyrus clutching his bloody hand with his non-bloodied one. Papyrus gave him a nervous, apologetic smile.

"Nyeh heh, this is uh...yeah, I don’t think I can ignore this any longer. It’s really starting to sting. Owwie..."

Slim quickly turned around and opened up one of the cabinets, grabbing a small first aid kit and opening it on the counter. "h-here, let me patch you up."

Papyrus took a step towards him and extended his hand to Slim, who gently took a hold of it to examine and, once he checked that the first aid kit had everything that he needed, got right to work. After awhile of getting a few shards out his hand bones and disinfecting the wounds, Slim wrapped up the hand in gauze and let it go. Papyrus looked at it, clenching it into a fist and wincing a bit before smiling at Slim. "A job well done, Slim. Thank you. You’re so skillful, I couldn’t do it any better myself."

Slim looked away shyly with a small smile on his face as he closed the first aid kit, feeling the heat on his cheekbones rising higher and higher. "you’re going to make my soul burst if you don’t stop saying nice things to me, papyrus."

He felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders from behind. "But...I don’t want to stop. Not until you believe in what I say and how I think of you. Not until you can go up to a mirror and like what you see, and feel good about yourself."

"b-but that’s going to take awhile papyrus, m-maybe even forever. i don’t want to be a bother-"

"You could never, and will never, be a bother to me, Slim. I don’t mind if it takes awhile, and if it takes forever, well...I-I kind of like the sound of that." Papyrus said with a bashful smile, before realizing what he just said and blushed heavily.

Slim blushed as well, turning his head to look at Papyrus, who looked away and released him from his arms. He turned his body to face Papyrus and watched in surprise as the normally determined skeleton rubbed his neck nervously with his good hand.

"I-I mean, n-not the part where it’ll take forever for you to feel good about yourself, w-why would I like the sound of that? I want you to get better a soon as possible! What I meant to say was that I like the sound of spending time with you forever!" Papyrus’ voice cracked at the end, earning a small snort from Slim, who tried unsuccessfully to cover up with his hand, and causing Papyrus’ face to flush a bright orange color. Papyrus started to panic and sputtered, "N-No wait, th-that sounds creepy, let me rephrase that, I-I want to make you feel better and make you feel good about yourself a-and what better way to do that than to spends a lot of time together? I don’t c-care if it takes forever, I like spending time with you, you’re my best friend and-

"a b-best friend doesn’t try to kiss their bestfriend." Slim said with a shy smile while twiddling his thumbs together nervously. He still couldn’t believe that they almost kissed, and it was Papyrus that initiated it first! That meant that Papyrus...felt the same way right? His soul fluttered at the high possibility.

Papyrus’ face burned and steamed up at the reminder. He shook his head frantically and played with his scarf nervously. "I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know what came over me! You just...you just looked so happy and s-so beautiful, and I know that’s not a good excuse but-"

"i leaned in too, Papyrus. i...i was going to kiss you back." Slim said anxiously, yet with a hopeful smile as he took a step closer to Papyrus.

Papyrus froze for a second, thinking back when he tried to kiss Slim just a few moments ago and realized that, that was true. Slim did lean in...Slim was going to kiss him back...

Papyrus gulped and said just above a whisper, "I guess that means that we...have n-non-platonic feelings for each other, huh?" he said with a short nervous chuckle.

Slim chuckled nervously too. "s-seems that way."

"So...now what? I-I mean should we...I don’t know if...what’s next-" Papyrus choked on his words as Slim wrapped his arms gently around his neck. Papyrus wrapped his arms around Slim’s waist without a second thought, and pulled their bodies closer together, making Slim in shiver anxiously in his embrace.

"kiss me," Slim said just above whisper, "p-please."

His soul felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest at the simple request. He felt his entire face felt like it would explode into a blazing fire at any moment. He gulped nervously before leaning his head closer to Slim’s.

Slim closed his eyes as he leaned forward, ready to receive a kiss from the one he’s fallen for, for so long.

As Papyrus leaned in, wanting nothing more than to share his first kiss to his best friend that he’s been crushing on for quite some time now, but stopped himself just an inch away from his Slim’s mouth. At the last second, he placed a slow, tender kiss on Slim’s scar on his closed eye socket. Slim opened his other eye in surprise, and when he felt the warmth of Papyrus mouth against his scarred eye socket go away after a few seconds, he blinked both eyes and looked up to see Papyrus’ flushed face close to his own.

"As much as I want to, I want you to love yourself before you love me." Papyrus said with a fond look on his face, smiling a warm smile at Slim. "I think it’s best that...until then, we should just be friends. Is...Is that okay?"

Slim nodded, feeling warm and fuzzy from the kiss, despite it not being on the mouth, it was better than nothing. He understood Papyrus’ decision and did think he had a point. How could he ever be in a relationship and love somewhen when he didn’t even know how to love himself? "y-yeah, it’s okay. you’re right. i guess the last thing that i need right now is a b-bonefriend." he said, and laughed a little when Papyrus gave him a halfhearted frown.

"Don’t make me have second thoughts about this..." he said, looking away but Slim still caught a glimpse of a small smile on his face. Slim laughed a bit more until he snorted again. He froze again, and reminded himself to not panic or worry about his own laugh. Papyrus looked back at him and Slim noticed that his blushed grew brighter.

"So adorable." Papyrus whispered, and leaned his forehead against his, nuzzling it. Slim fought back the urge to deny that statement, still not used to such compliments, and nuzzled back. The two skeletons nuzzled happily in each other arms, giggling every now and then for no particular reason other than how content they were at the moment. Then all of a sudden, Slim realized that Papyrus never asked him whatever it was he came here for. He stopped nuzzling Papyrus, but still kept his forehead in contact with his.

"um, papyrus, you said you came here to ask me something...what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

Papyrus looked confused for a moment before it hit him."Oh, that’s right! I heard that there was a festival going on today at the park and wondered if you wanted to go with me. I’m not really sure what the festival is about, but I’ve heard they’ve got games, prizes, and even a band to play there!" he said gleefully, until he realized that there will most likely be a big crowd there and Slim didn’t really like crowds.

Now he knew why.

"O-Oh, but if you don’t feel comfortable about it, then we can do something else-"

"i’d love to go with you, papyrus." Slim said with a small smile.

"You don’t have to-"

"i want to.i...i have to step out of my comfort zone somehow, and this will be a good start to it, and...and you’ll be there so it won’t be so bad." he said shyly.

Papyrus blushed at the last statement and said, "But you should start small, Slim. This is going to be a big event. I don’t even know why I even thought of asking you to go with me to a place like that knowing you didn’t like crowds, especially now since I know of your insecurities..."

"i-i’m willing to try papyrus, a-and if i don’t feel comfortable i’ll tell you right away, okay?"

Papyrus looked at him, still unsure if the festival was a good idea, but when he saw the pleading look on his face, he couldn’t find it in himself to say no. "Okay, fine." he said, "It’s a date." Papyrus gasped and shook his head, his face rapidly turning orange as he realized what he just said. "I-I mean, not a date! We’re going on a not date together! A totally platonic hangout between best friends who are definitely not romantically into each other...yet."

Slim laughed at his reaction, his cover up of his little slip up, and the last part he added to it, but nevertheless, he blushed and said, "i can’t wait to have our not date, papyrus. can i just...is it okay if i pull up my hoodie...one step at a time, you know?"

Papyrus nodded, and pulled up his hoodie for him. "Whatever makes you comfortable, Slim, no need to ask." he said with one last nuzzle to his forehead, that was now mostly covered up by the fluff of his hoodie, and gently took a hold of his hand with his good one. "Now lets go on our da- not date! We shall use the buddy system so we don’t lose each other in the crowds, so don’t let go of my hand. It’s for safety reasons, no romantic intentions at all!"

Slim chuckled, "sure thing, papyrus. oh, but before we go can i tell you a secret?"

Papyrus smiled at him happily. "Sure!" Slim leaned in to the side of his skull and gave him a surprise kiss on the cheek before whispering, "i think you’re beautiful too, papyrus. both inside and out."

When Slim leaned back, he grinned a little when Papyrus’ head was steaming again. Papyrus sputtered, "N-No flirting or k-kissing until our first date! Until then, we must hurry to the festival to start your training in loving yourself! B-But thank you, even though my outer and inner beauty is no match to yours, and before you say it, no that was not a flirty thing to say, i-it was just a friendly compliment." He said and pulled Slim, who laughed at his antics, out of the bathroom with him and down the stairs. Now that they knew how they felt with one another, it was going to be difficult trying not to be more than friends, but theye have hope that they’ll manage to do it for both of their sakes.

Papyrus opened the door for him and gave him that smile he absolutely adored.

Slim was going to remind him of the broken glass and the small puddle of blood on the floor, but decided against it. Today, he just wanted to feel good about himself. Today, he just wanted to spend some time with his not boyfriend but hopefully soon to be.

Today, he just wanted to try to love himself with the one he loved.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all who read, comment, and give out kudos to this story.
> 
> Also, if there are any tags that you feel that this story should have, such as warnings and such, please feel free to say so in the comments below.


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